Paradise Awaits

Phenex watched his fiery sister play on the ice. Play? It didn’t seem the right word, for Gods do not play. They practice. What ever could she be practicing for? Winter?

It was true that this lake was oddly frozen even though the trees’ leaves still hung stubbornly onto their branches. They had all turned the colors of fire as the season shifted into autumn. Water from other regions had yet to solidify and yet here stood this lake, frozen solid.

Yes, Phenex decided, she was practicing for winter.

They had not seen each other in nearly a year. He had not seen any of his siblings in that time, though he had moved through lands far and wide. Only within the last few days had he finally found where his family flourished.

With a small huff that produced a thin cloud the younger wolf walked forward. His steps were coordinated and measured. Not so much careful as purposeful. His black claws dug just enough into the slick ice so that he had traction. His paw pads stung against the cold, not yet hardened enough for the cold of winter, but he didn’t show it.

The younger wolf made no attempt to hide his approach and knew that she had likely known he was there for as long as he had been watching her. Once he was close enough he slowed to a stop and looked her up and down.

She was in good health, as he had remembered her. Just as tall and graceful, she towered over his squatter frame. Where she was built as a generalist, able to do all the things well, he was built like a bull; short and wide, all muscles and little speed.

Finally, after his green eyes had raked her frame throughly, he looked at her bright yellow eyes and his lips quirked in a tiny smile. ”Long time no see, Pyralis,” he said, his voice deeper now than it had been last they’d met, when he was but a yearling. Now at two he was matured, though still far younger than herself.